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A Wet First Half of 2013

Posted at: 07/01/2013 9:44 PM

Today is the first day of July which means we have now completed the first half of 2013. There have been a lot of significant weather events so far this year. The first day of 2013 started very cold with temperatures below -10ºF and wind chills nearing -30ºF. The rest of January held normal temperatures but the entire month lacked snow. Total snow for January reached 1.9” over 10” below the average.

February was relatively quiet. Consistent snow events amounted to 15.4” making February 2013 the 10th snowiest on record. Then March came around. Temperatures were much colder than average. March 2013 ended as the 11th coldest March on record for Rochester, MN. A lot of moderate snow fall events combined to make a monthly snow total of 23.5”, more than two times the monthly average and the third snowiest March on record.

We stuck with the cold temperatures for most of April, ending the month about 6º below average. April was also very, very wet. No significant snow events occurred but total monthly precipitation reached 6.79” over 3.5” above average, and the 2nd wettest April on record.

Then May happened. None of us can forget how May came in with a bang. An unprecedented snow storm dropped 14” in 24 hours at Rochester International Airport. That one event shattered every snowfall record for the date and the month. May continued with the wet weather bringing in 12.26” of precipitation. This made May 2013 the wettest May on record and the fourth wettest month on record! A two year drought also ended in May.

June ended right where May left off, wet. After a relatively dry first couple of weeks the month ended with a wet streak bringing in nearly 2” in just a few days. The month nearly cracked the top 10 wettest June’s on record coming in 0.30” short.

One common theme over the last 6 months has been wet weather. In fact from January 1st to June 30th, 30.76” of precipitation has fallen. The previous record for this time period was 25.10” set in 1990. The average for the first 6 months is 15.64”.